Istanbul , Turkey -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- About 250 people raced across the Syrian border into Turkey , government officials said Saturday , a flight that reflects the fear and violence gripping the Arab nation .

The people hustled to the southern Turkish Yaylidagi district in Hatay province on Friday afternoon , according to local and federal government officials .

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said the government is trying to determine more about the people and how and why they chose to leave Syria .

`` They just came to the border post and want to go in without passports . They were let in , '' Unal said . `` We are trying to figure out whether this is an individual event or the tip of the iceberg . ''

Yaylidagi Mayor Mustafa Kemal Dagistanli and another local government official , who asked not to be named , said the people are Syrian citizens and Muslims .

The local official said most of the people are ethnic Turkmens , and three of them speak Turkish . Most of them are from Qamishli , in the northeastern region , and Latakia , on the western coast .

The official said the people say they 've been persecuted by the government of President Bashar al-Assad -- now locked in confrontation across the country with anti-government protesters .

`` The group is mostly young , there are women and children among them , '' the official said . `` They are in good health condition . There are no health problems . ''

The military , the local government and the Red Crescent are assisting them with tents and food .

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Syrians citizens hightail it to Turkey

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Most of them are ethnic Turkmens , an official says

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Turkey wonders if this is `` the tip of the iceberg ''